In Search of Curious Learners – Your Key to Career Success

The World Economic Forum recently ranked curiosity as one of the top three skill employers are demanding in the current and future workforce they hire.  “Between now and 2027, businesses predict that 44% of workers’ core skills will be disrupted, because technology is moving faster than companies can design and scale up their training programmes.”  Because of this, habitually curious and thirsty learners are being highly sought after across all industries.

What role does curiosity play in the development of someone’s career? I’ve often pondered this question during many years of hiring employees and advising clients on hiring best practices.

Have you noticed that some people are naturally curious? Curious people are born with the need to ask deep questions about everything. They relentlessly investigate to find out the why behind the what. They get excited about the process of discovery itself, gaining energy as they learn little bits and pieces about something of interest. When I ask why he or she is so driven to discover, I often get the answer, “I’m just curious.”

Seven Reasons Why Curious People Have Better Careers

Lately I’ve been hearing my clients’ hiring managers discussing why they are looking for candidates who are highly curious. Here are seven reasons why organizations are seeking to hire candidates who are curious:

1. Curious people take on the responsibility to learn what they need to know in order to do excellent work in their assignments.
2. Curious people onboard in a new job faster than people who are less curious.
3. Curious people are more adaptable and tend to react favorably to change.
4. Curious people keep organizations from making mistakes that hasty decisions produce as they are apt to identify the small flaws in a plan or product.
5. Curious people tend to be more open-minded and willing to consider many different perspectives, which can lead to breakthrough thinking (like Albert Einstein).
6. Curious people will make more of an effort to get to know others (EQ), leading to more effective relationships and respect.
7. And curious people are committed to lifelong learning, especially helpful in an age when so many changes are going on in the workplace.

Consider some of the recently published findings about the impact of curiosity in the workplace:

• A Deloitte article cited a “worldwide survey of 2,000 managers found that 72 percent consider curiosity a ‘very valuable’ trait among employees. The survey also found that employers who invested in upskilling and promoted curious workers regularly were the most successful at nurturing curiosity.”
• Global data and AI giant SAS cited “curiosity as a rising focus on its site this year. A 71% growth in posts and shares with text that mention curiosity, an 87% growth in mention of skills related to curiosity, and an 87% growth in mention of skills related to curiosity.”
• Psychology Today stated that “curiosity opens us up to pursue new and relevant knowledge and to new possibilities. By creating a culture that ignites curiosity, employees often experience the benefits of increased creativity, helping them connect more deeply with their work, work proactively to tackle problems, and feel more fulfilled in doing so,” linking employee engagement to curiosity.

How to Hire Curious People

In our previous article, Your Four Dimensional Job Interview, I identified a candidate’s curiosity quotient (CQ) as one of the four people dimensions employers will measure in the future (along with IQ (intelligence quotient), EQ (emotional intelligence), and TQ (talent quotient). 

Curious people are easy to identify – they are the ones asking lots of questions and willing to go deeper into an answer to understand the thinking behind an answer. Interviewers should seek candidates who ask more than just the usual obligatory questions when being interviewed. Do they probe for the why behind the what when you answer their questions? Are they genuinely interested in the answers?

Effective interview questions you might ask a candidate include:

• “Please define the trait of ” {his/her answer} “Now that I understand what you mean by curiosity, please give me two examples during the last month of how you used curiosity in the workplace or your personal life. What were the specific circumstances surrounding your use of curiosity, and how did each situation turn out? Please walk me through the details.”
• “Please take me through the exact process you used to prepare for today’s interview. How did you determine what you needed to learn, where did you look for it, and what were your key findings?”
• “What {topic/technology/skill/area} are you currently studying, and why are you studying it? How are you applying what you are learning? Please give me an example.”

Candidates with strong levels of curiosity will give you detailed answers to these questions and seem energized by recounting the discovery process involved.

Another valuable tool to help identify someone’s curiosity is using a well-researched behavioral, motivational, and/or emotional intelligence assessment. Often these instruments will provide insight into candidates across a spectrum of traits or qualities, providing additional insight into the way they think and what drives them.

Can Curiosity Be Developed?

While there is some evidence to show that curiosity may be an inborn tendency which some people possess in greater levels than other people, individuals willing to learn about curiosity can develop greater curiosity in themselves. How can this happen? Once someone understands what the state of being curious looks like, he or she can intentionally work on being in that state more often. Intentionality and motivation play a big part in cultivating curiosity.

For example, Samantha, a sales professional for a medical device manufacturer, can learn to ask more (and more effective) questions in order to learn additional information about a particular customer or prospect. To do this, Samantha will need to allocate additional time to asking needs assessment questions and plan out the questioning strategy she will use. By conducting a deeper level needs assessment, Samantha discovers more information that will lead her to a completed sale. Consequently, Samantha’s curious behavior is reinforced by better sales outcomes, and she learns to habitually be more curious in the selling process. As a general rule, curious salespeople consistently conduct more effective needs assessments, making curiosity a Top Three hiring trait for the sales profession.

Bottom Line

Curiosity is a rising career super-power. Regardless of your choice of career paths, age, or career trajectory, curiosity could be just the shot in the arm you need to take your own career to the next level.